Love fest in the making

Yep, Maisie and I booked airline tickets to Utah and phones all across the U.S. and Canada started ringing. Next thing we knew the airlines were raking in the bucks as the Utah Bloggy Bash Reunion Tour came together. Emails have been flying, tickets have been purchased and sleeping arrangements have been made. Come the end of September Lisa, Tiffany & Eliza will be playing host to not only Maisie & I, but also to Julie & Tess and Mary-Mia and the salsa twins Rose & Marie. Unfortunately Donna already had other plans but playing the part of Donna this year will be Catherine as every bloggy bash needs at least one foreigner in the group ;-)

I've already been in contact with the Incredible Kim Brown and my new Georgia Bloggy Bash friends Susie and Tawni and fun times are being planned. I'm just over the top excited, not only to see all these great ladies again but I haven't seen Tess since our flight home from China and then meeting Eliza, Rose, Marie and Pearl for the first time...I can't wait!!! Watch out Utah we're all coming back with kiddos in tow!!!

Briana Day!!

Local adopters Lisa & Doug have their beautiful daughter Briana. Check out their blog to read all about their trip. Big congrats Lisa & Doug

Free to travel

Yesterday Maisie's U.S. passport arrived after just an eight week wait so now we are free to travel!!

So where are we headed? Well I have two trips booked and confirmed with airline tickets purchased. The first trip I booked back in April and is for December where Eammon and I will have two weeks of sun, fun and exercise chasing Maisie on the beaches of Aruba. I'm not expecting total relaxation nor do I think I'll be reading my usual dozen books and solving sudoku puzzles like in years past but it will still be a great trip. This may be the first time that Maisie experiences the ocean unless I happen upon a great deal to some island before that.

Then just two days ago I booked a trip for Maisie and I to fly out to Utah in September to visit with two of my Utah bloggy girls Tiffany & Lisa and I'll finally get to meet Tiffany's Eliza!!! I'll of course be getting together with the Incredible Kim Brown and her family and there I'll get to meet Pearl for the first time too. In addition I'll get to see two new friends from the Georgia Bloggy Bash, Susie and Tawni. As long as I survive the flight with Maisie it'll be a fabu trip.

GA Bloggy Bash Video

It was fabulous meeting all the bloggy girls and they were just as fun loving and sweet as the video shows. Unfortunately Maisie and I were only part of the weekend for one short day and it just wasn't enough time to really get to know everyone. Hopefully though we'll all be seeing each other again with more fun times to come.

Thanks to Tracy for putting together such a great video.

Mmmmmm...Mac & Cheese

The little girls enjoying their lunch while Deb, Kathy and I enjoyed something a little more adult than mac & cheese.

Another fun Tuesday with great friends, spending time eating, chatting, laughing and watching LiLi & Maisie play.

The Great Georgia Bloggy Bash!!

  What a FABU day Maisie and I had Saturday down at Melissa's, meeting Alison & Mali, Angela, Catherine, Connie, Heather, Kris, Krista, Maryellen, Stacy, Susie, Tawni and Tracy and hanging with local adopters Deb & LiLi, Kathy & Lisa. A big huge thank you to Melissa for opening her home to all of us and being such a wonderful hostess, sponge and all.

What an awesome group of gals we met, all so funny, talented, creative and generous. I loved meeting each and everyone of the girls and can't wait to do it again when hopefully all their little ones are finally home, that will be a real treat!

Catherine and Tawni, I wish that you were both my neighbors as I could spend all day with each of you, you are both so sweet and I'm so happy that I got the meet and talk with you both. Of course if I lived next door to Heather or Connie I'd spend my life laughing as those are two witty and funny gals. Alison and Mali were both so sweet and between Mali and Maisie with the in & out and open & close, those two little girls could drive us crazy and silly. Angela your baking skills are amazing and you are as sweet and wonderful as your cheese cake and thank you for posting the recipe. Kris I so wish that I had been able to spend more time talking with you along with Krista, Maryellen, Stacy, Susie and Tracy, I feel as if I only had limited time with each of you and I would have loved to get to know each of you better.

To all the girls who are still waiting, I can't wait to follow along on your journeys and hopefully sooner than later each of you will have your daughter home with you. Thank you all too for the wonderful gifts, you all spoiled Maisie and I. Keep an eye out in the future because you know there will be pictures on the blog of Maisie wearing all the tee shirts and shoes.

Can you believe that I attended a bloggy bash with camera in tow and didn't take even one picture!! Bad blogger, bad blogger!! Luckily there were more cameras than people and some really talented photographers in the group so I'm planning on nicking all their photos once they have them all posted. Thanks to Deb for the photo on this post and thanks to all the other girls with cameras who were good about taking pictures and documenting the Great Georgia Bloggy Bash!

Finally, kudos to Darren who truly survived the weekend with a house full of wild women. Thank you for being the grill master and just an all around good guy. I'm thinking that after this past weekend, Darren deserves a hunting trip in Colorado at the least, what do the rest of you girls say?!?!?!

My kitchen survived, will I??

It was just shy of a year ago that I flew out to Utah for my first bloggy bash, which was an absolute blast! Well tomorrow Maisie and I are attending the Georgia Bloggy Bash hosted by Melissa. We already know the local gals Deb & LiLi, Kathy & Lisa but we're looking forward to meeting Alison & Mali, Angela, Catherine, Connie, Heather, Kris, Krista, Maryellen, Stacy, Susie, Tawni and Tracy. I know that it's going to be a blast as this is one fun loving group of gals. Hopefully I'll survive the day and have lots of good stories and pictures to post.

Melissa asked if I could bring along some desserts so Thursday morning I did just a wee bit of baking. Three pounds of butter and obscene amounts of chocolate, sugar, flour and a disaster of a kitchen later I had four delicious desserts to bring along which hopefully the gals will all enjoy. I made Deb's favorite Chocolate Mint Brownies as well as Oatmeal Coconut Raspberry Bars, Mrs. Ogle's Tarts and Lemon Squares.

After all that cooking in the morning, Maisie needed some time with friends so yesterday afternoon we met up with some of our Library friends at the indoor playground where Maisie ran around like a crazy girl. Maybe it was all the little tastes and a sugar high but she was one busy little girl.

Early this morning Deb called and asked if I wanted to join her and LiLi up at the Kidzstock playground. So off we were for a morning of play where in between time-outs, Maisie was a little daredevil going down the biggest slide time after time tempting LiLi to get in on the action and in the end she joined in and the girls had fun doing the big slides. Enjoy all the pics that Deb took and hopefully I'll survive the bloggy bash to post again soon.

LiLi days

Every couple of months Deb hands me a bag filled with wonderful little outfits that LiLi has outgrown and are perfectly sized for Little Miss Maisie. So this past Sunday, Monday and Tuesday Maisie looked adorable dressed in LiLi's outfits. Thank you Deb & LiLi for all the cute clothes.

Both Saturday and Sunday were lazy, rainy days and we got to spend lots of time together as a family. Eammon spent lots of time reading and re-reading book after to book to Maisie. She had fun pointing out every animal and item in each book.

Monday was our Library play group and Maisie looked absolutely adorable and received many compliments as she wore one of LiLi's dresses.

Monday afternoon we met up with the Marietta Moms at the indoor playground for a few hours of playtime.

Tuesday morning I had a contractor doing some work in the house. Instead of just hanging out we decided to invite Deb & LiLi and Brandy & Zoe over to help pass the time. It was funny, with all the toys that I have it was an empty plastic biscuit container and plastic cups that they all wanted to play with. It was fun having the girls play and it's always fun chatting with Deb & Brandy.

Toasting Claire

And toasting... and toasting... and toasting. Last night a little celebrating happened all in honor of Cindy & Brent's new daughter Claire.

Cindy & Brent, Trixie & WaWa along with Eammon and I had a great night starting with everyone receiving photos of adorable Claire. We then all raised a glass and toasted her with a very potent and delicious Chinese cocktail a la WaWa, which was served with artichoke, feta & sun dried tomato turnovers. Next we sat down to a delicious (if I do say so myself) dinner of lamb shanks, saffron risotto and roasted French beans and tomatoes which were accompanied by a 2003 Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon and a Luna d'Luna white.

Though sufficiently full and quite tipsy, no one could resist Trixie's Claire De Lune and Black Cherry cupcakes and of course a little champagne to once again toast the wee one. The girls had all reached their limit but the boys adjourned to the back yard where they enjoyed some XO cognac and cigars for a nice finish to a great evening. Big congrats again to Cindy & Brent and we can't wait for you to travel and bring wee Cletus Claire home.

p.s. Next time we celebrate it's not happening on a week night. I'm still one hurting girl and I hear through the grapevine that all the other celebrants aren't faring much better.

Farewell and good luck

Yesterday Maisie and I hosted our library play group where we had a lovely lunch in honor of Erika and Kellan. They are moving to Colorado and we're all going to miss them both. We all enjoyed lots of good food and both the children and Moms had a great time. Have a safe and easy move and we wish you all the best in your new home.

Back row l to r: Tommy, Erin, Katie, Ginny, Maisie, Lisa, Sara, Parker.
Front row l to r: Jessie, Ava, Karen, Alexander, Lisa, Anna Scott, Erika, Kellan.

Introducing Claire Cai

Local adopters Cindy and Brent received their referral for their beautiful daughter Yu Cai Ke, soon to be Claire Cai!

I am over the top excited for them and can't wait to start the celebrating! Claire Cai was born August 16, 2006, at 7 mo. old she was 14 lbs., 25" and is currently residing in the Xinyu City Social Welfare Institute, Jiangxi Province, China. Here's wishing the new parents a speedy TA.

Congrats to all the new parents who received their referral this month.

It's Sunday again...Already!

I can't believe that another week has flown by. My weeks dragged on during our wait for referral and now they're speeding along at warp speed. Each time I sit down to blog, days have passed and because of our fun filled schedule it's often difficult to remember what even happened. Thankfully most of our schedule is documented on my calendar so even on those weeks, like this one, where I've been bad about taking pictures which would spark my memory, I at least have my calendar for reference.

So, what's been happening since my last post? Thursday Maisie and I got together with Jessie and Ava for an afternoon at the pool. Then on Friday it was a morning at the pool with our Marietta Moms group. Friday afternoon was all about play, first at the indoor playground with Brandie & Zoe and Jessie & Ava. Once that play area closed we had an extend play time back at our house. Since Eammon was out for the night, Brandie & Zoe stayed for dinner and play continued right up until Maisie's bed time which was followed ten minutes later with my bedtime as it was a long and busy week.

All day Saturday I was nursing a headache and luckily the only thing on our calendar was our post-placement visit with the social worker. Other than her visit, we did nothing!! I spent most of the day lounging on the couch watching Maisie play. Once again, 10 minutes after Maisie went to bed, I did too, getting some much needed rest. Sunday morning was rainy and cool, perfect for some baking so I made a peach cake to take along later that day to Daphne & Greg's home. We spent a nice afternoon with Daphne, Greg & Emily where we enjoyed a nice dinner and the girls got in lots of play time together. Despite all our efforts to keep Maisie awake for the drive home, we barely made it ten minutes in the car before Maisie was out cold, exhausted from her afternoon of play. Thanks Daphne & Greg, we had a great time.    
I've had many people email asking for some of the recipes that I've posted previously on this blog and because they're sometimes difficult to find, I've started a new cooking blog, Cook Lisa Cook. The link to the new blog can always be found in the sidebar. Cook Lisa Cook contains all the recipes that I've posted on this blog in the past and maybe having the new blog will inspire me to do some interesting cooking and post some new recipes. I hope that you'll check it out and try some of the recipes. If you do make any, please leave a comment. Hope you enjoy all the recipes.

Happy 4th!!

Yesterday we gathered at Kathy & Matt's home along with Deb, Dan, Ian & LiLi, and Mick & James for a 4th of July BBQ. It was a fun afternoon filled with lots of good food and lots of laughs. Thanks Kathy and Matt for a fun afternoon and thanks to Deb and Mick for the piccies.

A day at the park isn't always a picnic

Tuesday we planned a nice morning at the playground. Deb, LiLi & Ian arrived at our house and installed Maisie's car seat in their van but when I went to put her in the seat and all H.E.L.L. broke loose. Screaming, rigid body, stiff limbs and huge tears. This isn't the first time that we've put her car seat in another car and she's always been okay with it before but I guess she had other ideas. I tried to calm her but she was having none of it. I eventually got her into the seat and we did a little jaunt down the road for coffee before heading off to the park. She calmed down during the three mile drive, we made it through the drive thru and she seemed better so we decided to continue on to the park. Well the calm lasted maybe another two miles before the screaming began again and continued for a good half hour. Ian put on his headphones and watched a movie, LiLi just looked at Maisie as if she was mad and Deb & I, well we're both used to it...even though I swear my ears were bleeding by the time we reached the playground.

Once we reached the playground all was right with the world and Maisie was a little monkey going on all the play sets and even going down the biggest spiral slide time and time again. She was happy and even was a little kissing monster with her favorite guy Ian.

After almost two hours of play and fun and lots of great piccies by Deb, I had high hopes for the trip home. Well that lasted until I tried to get little Miss back into the car seat. She screamed and cried but we had to get home so in she went. Deb then stopped at McD's to get her kids some fries and corrupted Maisie with her very first French fry. Maisie seemed non-plussed with her single french fry, held it, looked at it for a while then eventually ate it but she didn't ask for more. Luckily she quickly fell asleep giving all our ears a break for the ride home. Unfortunately her 20 minute nap in the car was her nap for the day and come 4PM I started counting the minutes until bedtime. Fun at the park but overall not a day that I'd like to repeat anytime soon.

Off to a good start

We had a fun and busy weekend and our week has started off well with two play dates in one day! First for the weekend, Saturday Lisa & Doug joined us for a dinner of ChongQing hotpot. I'm so excited that their little Briana is from ChongQing, just like Maisie, so to celebrate and get them ready for the spicy food of the region we gave them a taste of what to expect when they travel. It was a fun evening and Maisie was of course charming giving both Lisa & Doug kisses before she went to bed...of course the charm may have been thanks for all the wonderful little gifts that they brought over for her too!

Sunday we had planned to do some yard work and projects around the house but a better offer was put forth by Cindy, which of course we couldn't turn down. So we just had to "suffer" through an evening with our good friends Cindy & Brent and Trixie & Roger, eating great steaks and drinking fabu wine. All instead of getting our work done...such is life! Cindy and Brent, thanks for a great evening and our fingers are crossed for your referral any day now!!!

This morning started off real well as Maisie slept a little later than usual, not waking up until just after 7am, allowing me some much needed sleep! Then it was off to Jessie & Ava's home for our Library play group. All the little ones had so much fun and what's nice is that they play so well together and there's never any fighting, whining or crying...a perfect way to start each week!

After the Monday morning play dates, it's always a challenge to make it home before Maisie passes out in the car seat even though it never takes more than eight minutes to get home. Once home Maisie took a nice long nap and then our neighbor Gene came over for a quick visit to see Maisie and to pick up some apple cake. Next we were off to the indoor play area at JFBC where we met up with Deb & LiLi as well as some of the girls from my Marietta Moms group. Maisie ran around, had a great time and really tired her self out...what a great way to finish off the afternoon.